Indigenously developed Astra Missile successfully test fired from ITR Chandipur in Odisha

Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra was successfully test fired at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha on 20 May 2015. It was test-fired aboard a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

The present test was a part of the series of tests planned to test the missile’s subsystems like propulsion, navigation and guidance and the smooth separation of the missile from the aircraft, etc.  

The previous test was conducted on 18 March 2015 from the same place.

About the Astra missile
• Astra is India’s first beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) that is capable of engaging its target at ranges of 37 km or beyond. It has operational range of 60km.
• The all-weather missile has been indigeniously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• It is a state-of-the-art missile in the sense that it travels at supersonic speed (4780 km/h), possesses Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) with active radar terminal guidance, uses smokeless propulsion system to evade enemy radars and has the capacity to engage in multi-target scenario.
• The 3.8 metre long missile is the smallest of the DRDO-developed missiles and can be launched from different altitudes.
• It can reach up to 110 km when fired from an altitude of 15 km, 44 km when launched from an altitude of eight km and 21 km when fired from sea level.
• The missile will be inducted into the armed forces by 2016 after few more tests, including pre-induction trials.

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